Metro.us recently conducted an interview with rocker-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metro.us: You said with [“The Lords Of Salem”] you wanted to try something different. Did you mean different from the “Halloween” films or just in general?

Rob: Just in general. I felt like the last group of films I did were in the same wheelhouse. I just wanted to break out of that within the structure of what we were making. I hate that phrase “horror director.” It sounds so limiting. I just want to make movies. That’s why my next film isn’t even remotely a horror or genre film.

Metro.us: “The Lords of Salem” had a lower budget than you’ve had recently. Was that the plan?

Rob: That was a freedom thing. Because after doing the two “Halloween” films, which were with Dimension Films — that’s a very hands-on studio. So you’re always fighting to retain some sense of what you’re trying to do. But with this film I had complete control, contractually. That was the appeal. Working with a small budget is kind of a drag. But the other part was great.

Metro.us: This film is less gory than your other films, with a lower body count.

Rob: I don’t really think my films are that gory. I think “Halloween II” is pretty violent, but it’s not that gory. I’m not a fan of gore, necessarily. I think when things become too gory it just becomes cartoony — it becomes like a bloody Roadrunner cartoon. This one isn’t that violent. It’s not even that vulgar, in terms of the language. I tried to make it different. The art direction’s a lot cleaner and sparser, more composed. It’s the opposite of what I normally do.

Josh Stockinger of DailyHerald.com recently spoke to ROB ZOMBIE/ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5 about the songwriting process for the score for Zombie‘s latest horror film, “The Lords Of Salem”.

“Rob would give me direction, like, ‘I want it to sound like this, or I want it to sound like that,'” John, whose real name is John Lowery, said. “It’s very primitive, not your everyday-sounding instruments. I would use a violin bow across an acoustic guitar or clank on things or use other odd musical instruments. Then, of course, you have your bassoons and french horns and everything under the sun for other parts of the score. It’s very unorthodox, if you will, but it really was a lot of fun. It was a lot of work and it was a big challenge. It turned out amazing, though. I’m very proud of it; that’s for sure.”

He added, “I wanted the theme of this movie to be very simple, like ‘Jaws’ or ‘Halloween’ — something that’s so easy to remember. When you see the movie, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. I really wanted to concentrate on the simple things that ring in your head. I wanted to do something easy in that sense so people could remember it and hopefully have fun with it.”

Asked if he had a lot of visual elements to work with, the guitarist said, “We [John 5 and producer Griffin Boice] would get visuals, or we would get a scene or two and just go off of it from there. It’s really amazing when you see a shot with nothing there and then create this sound. It’s pretty incredible to see how it all comes to life.

“It’s funny, the power of music. I was watching ‘Dracula’, the 1931 version with Bela Lugosi, and the only music you hear is at the very beginning of the credits. There’s not one other piece of music; it’s all silent. It’s unbelievable and it’s very effective, too.”

ROB ZOMBIE has spoken out in regard to impatient fans anxious to see his new movie, The Lords Of Salem, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September; his statement reads:

“For those of you confused and or pissed that The Lords is not coming out asap. Well, I will try and explain it. Lords only just got distribution recently, so it was impossible to lock in theaters to show it. Studios book the screens and pick their release dates far in advance of the release. We did not have that luxury on this project due to the manner in which we decided to make it.

We are releasing it as soon as screens are available to show it. Simple as that.”

However, Zombie and Alliance Films have just released the following Lords Of Salem trailer:

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Rob Zombie‘s new movie, “The Lords Of Salem”, had its world premiere on Monday night (September 10) at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Zombie‘s fifth live-action feature was screened for critics, the public and potential distributors. The Playlist called it Zombie‘s “most accomplished,” “most ambitious” and “most unnerving” film, although Bloody Disgusting labeled the low-budget movie a disappointment, saying Zombie‘s script was “littered with problems” and questioning his decision to cast his wife Sheri Moon Zombie as the lead.

The plot of the film deals with a curse placed 300 years ago on the residents of Salem by a coven of witches who were put to death, and how that curse returns to terrorize the city’s modern-day inhabitants.

Zombie told The Pulse Of Radio that just like on his other films, the script for “The Lords Of Salem” went through changes even as he was filming it. “You know, sometimes you have a script and things change,” he said. “You think, ‘Oh, this character is going to be really important’ or that actor, but it doesn’t really come off that way. But then another character that was sort of in the background moves to the foreground, and rather than fight it, I will change it if I feel that it’s better. So yeah, there’s tons of things changed — I mean, if anyone read the script, there’s like almost no relation, almost.”

There is no release date yet for the movie, which Zombie made in collaboration with the producers of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise.

Video footage of Rob and some of the “The Lords Of Salem” cast and crew answering audience after the screening of the movie can be seen below. Also available is an interview with Rob and Sheri Moon Zombie conducted by Matt Schichter from MSN.

Zombie has also been working on his first new album since 2010’s “Hellbilly Deluxe 2”. The new, yet-to-be-titled CD is set for a late 2012 release.

His “Twins Of Evil” co-headlining tour with MARILYN MANSON begins on October 1 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Rob Zombie recently spoke to Artisan News about “The Lords Of Salem”, his sixth film as a writer and director and first all-out excursion into supernatural horror. You can now watch the chat below.

Although Zombie began shooting “The Lords Of Salem” earlier this year, he still has work to do. He wrote in an online posting last week, “For those of you wondering if ‘The Lords Of Salem’ is finished, the answer is no. I had to take a break due to the MEGADETH tour and a few other things. I will be returning to work on the film in July to finish it up.” Zombie recently wrapped a U.S. trek with MEGADETH.

Zombie posted four new photos from the film at the site to whet fans’ appetites.

He told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that he had some very specific ideas about the kind of horror movie he wanted to make this time. “With a lot of the movies over the years that we thought were, you know, very scary — ‘The Exorcist’ or ‘The Shining’ — there was the time to let it play out. They just had a different pace, you know, it sucks people in. And that was one of the main things that I was thinking that I wanted this film to have, ’cause I think a lot of times now horror movies are getting so short and so choppy, you can’t do that. And that’s why I think a lot of people got so scared with ‘Paranormal Activity’, ’cause you fell into the rhythm of the movie, and then it started seeming real to you.”

The movie, about a 300-year-old coven of witches seeking revenge on the modern-day town of Salem, marks Zombie‘s first collaboration with the producers of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise.

Zombie has spent much of June in the studio working on a new album, his first since 2010’s “Hellbilly Deluxe 2”. The new, yet-to-be-titled CD is set for a late 2012 release. Zombie said recently that he had “not felt this much excitement within the band since recording the first ‘Hellbilly Deluxe’ record almost 15 years ago” and promised a “dark, heavy, weird” record.

ROB ZOMBIE has issued the following update in regard to his forthcoming movie The Lords Of Salem:

“For those of you wondering if The Lords Of Salem is finished, the answer is no. I had to take a break due to the MEGADETH tour and a few other things. I will be returning to work on the film in July to finish it up.”

The aforementioned Rob Zombie / Megadeth tour ran throughout the month of May.

The plot synopsis for The Lords Of Salem is as follows:

Heidi, a blond rock chick, DJs at a local radio station, and together with the two Hermans (Whitey and Munster) forms part of the “Big H Radio Team.” A mysterious wooden box containing a vinyl record arrives for Heidi, a gift of the Lords. She assumes it’s a rock band on a mission to spread their word.

As Heidi and Whitey play the Lords’ record, it starts to play backwards, and Heidi experiences a flashback to a past trauma. The arrival of another wooden box from the Lords presents the Big H team with free tickets, posters and records to host a gig in Salem. Soon, Heidi and her cohorts are far from the rock spectacle they’re expecting.

The original Lords of Salem are returning and they’re out for blood.
Source: Bravewords.com